Orléans et Bourges

We were sad to leave Paris yesterday and enjoyed our great vacation with Geof , Jane, and the girls. They took a RER train to de Gaulle airport and arrived safely home 6pm Saturday. We picked up our rental car and with help of our GPS, aka Aussie Girl, we navigated to Orléans then Bourges. The tolls are brutal and it cost just over 20€ to make the trip to Bourges.

However in Orléans we did manage lunch, a walkabout, and a picture of the cathedral and another bride.

 

Bourges is a medieval town south of Paris in the Loire Valley. We spent the evening walking around town and enjoying the sights.

 

Lots of people enjoying their evening in a square in the middle of town. Quite an ambience.

A free jazz concert outside the cathedral.

The participants in the parade Les Nuits Lumière Costumées.

On Sunday we plan to explore in the area around Tours, to the west of Bourges.

 

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La Tour Eiffel et La Musee de l'armee invalides

We had tickets reserved for todayat the Eiffel Tower. Always a risky thing to do because of weather but it worked for us. The tickets were on my iPhone and scanned in from there. It meant we got quick access to the elevator for the second level but no advantage for the elevator to the top- we had about a 40 minute wait for that. But as you'll see below the views from both levels were spectacular.

However last evening we had dinner in the Eiffel Tower area and went into Les Champs de Mars for the lights. Some truly great pictures there.

 

On the hour for about 5 minutes there is a sparking light show.

Our daytime pictures were also pretty good.

Les Champs de Mars with Le College Militaire in the background

The Pont Alexandre

The Arc de Triomphe

The Trocadero

 

After a few hours on the tower we headed out for some lunch and ate in a park . The weather finally turned hot and sunny after 5 days of cool and showers. Over then to The Dome , Invalides, and Napoleon's Tomb.

 

Napoleon's Tomb

 

Exhausted again we slowly meandered back to our apartment cutting through Les Tuileries and Le Louvre. We may all become even more insufferable as we constantly talk about cutting through thes two places. One last picture of each:

 

 

Today is our last full day here in Paris and we loved it all. Paris is truly a great city.Sadly Geof and Jane and the girls head back home on Saturday: Geof and Jane to return to the world of work on Tuesday and the girls back to school. Jessie starts grade 6 and Casey is off to high school and grade 9. We'll miss our family. Deen and I pick up a rental car in the south end of Paris and head off for 4 days in the Loire Valley. I'm not sure what my internet service will be like at our various hotels (it's been excellent here) so it may restrict the number of pictures I can upload. We'll see.

 

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Paris Disney and The Latin Quarter

As mentioned yesterday the younger Dudding family all headed off to Paris Disney where they spent a full day. They enjoyed their day there and said it's smaller than Florida Disney. Some of the rides are the same and some are different. They used the RER train from a station right near where we are all staying and it took them right to the gates. A little cooler as well than the Florida version.

Today the Route Master took us through Les Halles, across the Seine to La Rive Gauche and the Latin Quarter. However on the way there, there are some scenic fountains and towers:

 

This is La Tour Saint Jacques made in the 1500's.

As we crossed the bridge we encountered this beautiful structure. I didn't get it's name.

 

We found La Sorbonne nearby. A small school of only 24,000 students. Casey and Jessie were checking it out for future reference.

 

And a classic view of the university from La Place de la Sorbonne.

We also found the oldest tree in Paris planted in 1601.

Next up Les Jardins de Luxembourg. Tennis players, joggers, tourists, and even a band.

Jessie was excited to find some small horses.

 

And Deen and Jane were excited to find the shop of Pierre Herme, one of the top pastry chefs in France.

 

And with all the apartments in Paris with small elevators it was interesting to see how people move their furniture.

 

Finally on the tour The Pantheon. A magnificent old structure.

 

Friday we have tickets for the Eiffel Tower and then will wander in that neighbourhood. We plan to go see the tower this evening as it is lit up every hour on the hour.

 

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No Chartres but more Paris

We decided not to head off to Chartres today but instead wanted to do more wandering around Paris. The pace was somewhat slower as Route Master Geof was busy leading his troops around Euro Disney. As I write this they are still out there somewhere.

We headed off in the direction of Le Marais and first passed Le Centre Georges Pompidou, a modern art centre. Very eclectic looking from the outside.

 

Paris is famous for it's doors:

 

And it's fashions

Wait until you see Deen wearing the outfit on the left. Oh La La.

We arrived at La Place de la Republique

 

Then off to see the monument at the site of The Bastille. The Bastille itself was destroyed many years ago.

We crossed the Seine and ended up at Le Jardin des Plantes

La Musee National d'Histoire Naturelle in the background.

Tomorrow more Paris wandering as we head over to the Latin Quarter and Le Jardin de Luxembourg.

 

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Montmartre

A rainy cool start to the day as we took the Metro up to Montmartre; a village within the city of Paris. A lot fewer tourists and we only saw one tour group today. However as expected there are many t-shirt etc shops in the area plus cafes, bars, restaurants....

Our own tour started at La Basilique du Sacre Coeur as shown below.

No pictures are allowed on the inside so you'll have to take my word for it that it's magnificent. And great views of the city from the grounds. Because of the rain the pictures aren't as nice as I would like.

Five of us did climb the stairs to the dome and got some great views from up there. More leg burning exercise.

 

And we were able to see Deen standing in the crowds below.

 

After the Basilica we wandered off into the village and had some lunch.

After lunch we walked over to the place where Deen and Jane were taking their macaron cooking class while Geof, the girls, and I headed off on our own adventures. We saw one of the remaining windmills in Paris .

Also a vineyard in the middle of the city!

 

Eventually we made it to one of Paris' iconic places , the Moulin Rouge where Geof and the girls showed they can Can-Can . This was in preparation for their tryout for the show.

 

After a few rest stops in local establishments we met up with the ladies after their class. They were quite happy with it and brought back quite a few. The results are shown below:

 

Tomorrow the younger Dudding family is heading off to EuroDisney while Deen and I go by train to Chartres.

 

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